3309.41
Disability benefit recipient to retain membership status.

(A)
Notwithstanding any contrary provisions in Chapter 124.
or 3319. of the Revised Code:

(1)
A disability benefit recipient
whose benefit effective date was before the effective
date of this amendment shall retain membership status and shall be
considered on leave of absence from employment during the first five years
following the effective date of a disability benefit.

(2)
A disability
benefit recipient whose benefit effective date is on or after the effective
date of this amendment shall retain membership status and shall be considered
on leave of absence from employment during the first three years following the
effective date of a disability benefit, except that, if the school employees
retirement board has recommended medical treatment or vocational rehabilitation
and the member is receiving treatment or rehabilitation acceptable to a
physician or consultant selected by the board, the board may permit the
recipient to retain membership status and be considered on leave of absence
from employment for up to five years following the effective date of a
disability benefit.

(B)
The
board shall
require a disability benefit recipient to undergo an annual medical
examination, except that the board may waive the medical examination if the
board's physician or physicians certify that the recipient's disability is
ongoing. Should any disability benefit recipient refuse to submit to a medical
examination, the recipient's disability benefit shall be suspended until
withdrawal of the refusal. Should the refusal continue for one year, all the
recipient's rights in and to the disability benefit shall be terminated as of
the effective date of the original suspension.

(C)
On
completion of the examination by an examining physician or physicians selected
by the board, the physician or physicians shall report and certify to the board
whether the disability benefit recipient meets the
applicable standard for termination of a disability benefit. If the recipient's
benefit effective date is before the effective date of this amendment or the
benefit effective date is after the effective date of this amendment and the
recipient is considered on a leave of absence under division (A)(2) of this
section, the standard for termination is that the recipient is no longer
physically and mentally incapable of resuming the service from which the
recipient was found disabled. If the recipient's benefit
effective date is on or after the effective date of this amendment and the
recipient is not considered on a leave of absence under division (A)(2) of this
section, the standard is that the recipient is not physically or mentally
incapable of performing the duties of a position that meets all of the
following criteria:

(1)
Replaces not
less than seventy-five per cent of the member's final average salary, adjusted
each year by the actual average increase in the consumer price index prepared
by the United States bureau of labor statistics (U.S. City Average for Urban
Wage Earners and Clerical Workers: "All Items 1982-84=100");

(3)
Is one that
the member is qualified for by experience or education.

If the board concurs in the report that the disability
benefit recipient meets the applicable standard for termination of a
disability benefit, the payment of the disability benefit shall be
terminated not later than three months after the date of the board's
concurrence or upon employment as an employee. If the leave of absence has not
expired, the retirement board shall certify to the disability benefit
recipient's last employer before being found disabled that the recipient is no
longer physically and mentally incapable of resuming service that is the same
or similar to that from which the recipient was found disabled. The employer
shall restore the recipient to the recipient's previous position and salary or
to a position and salary similar thereto not later than the first day of the
first month following termination of the disability benefit, unless the
recipient was dismissed or resigned in lieu of dismissal for dishonesty,
misfeasance, malfeasance, or conviction of a felony.

(D)
Each
disability benefit recipient shall file with the board an annual statement of
earnings, current medical information on the recipient's condition, and any
other information required in rules adopted by the board. The board may waive
the requirement that a disability benefit recipient file an annual statement of
earnings or current medical information on the recipient's condition if the
board's physician or physicians certify that the recipient's disability is
ongoing.

The board shall annually
examine the information submitted by the recipient. If a disability benefit
recipient refuses to file the statement or information, the disability benefit
shall be suspended until the statement and information are filed. If the
refusal continues for one year, the recipient's right to the disability benefit
shall be terminated as of the effective date of the original suspension.

(E)
If a
disability benefit recipient is employed by an employer covered by this
chapter, the recipient's disability benefit shall cease.

(F)
If
disability retirement under section
3309.40 of the Revised Code is
terminated for any reason, the annuity and pension reserves at that time in the
annuity and pension reserve fund shall be transferred to the employees' savings
fund and the employers' trust fund, respectively. If the total disability
benefit paid is less than the amount of the accumulated contributions of the
member transferred into the annuity and pension reserve fund at the time of the
member's disability retirement, the difference shall be transferred from the
annuity and pension reserve fund to another fund as may be required. In
determining the amount of a member's account following the termination of
disability retirement for any reason, the amount paid shall be charged against
the member's refundable account.

If a disability allowance
paid under section
3309.401 of the Revised Code is
terminated for any reason, the reserve on the allowance at that time in the
annuity and pension reserve fund shall be transferred from that fund to the
employers' trust fund.

The board may terminate a
disability benefit at the request of the recipient.

(G)
If
a disability benefit is terminated and a former disability benefit recipient
again becomes a contributor, other than as an other system retirant as defined
in section
3309.341 of the Revised Code, to
this system, the public employees retirement system, or the state teachers
retirement system, and completes an additional two years of service credit
after the termination of the disability benefit, the former disability benefit
recipient shall be entitled to receive up to two years of service credit for the
period as a disability benefit recipient and may
purchase service for the remaining period of the disability benefit. Total
service credit received and purchased under this section shall not exceed the
period of the disability benefit.

For each year of credit purchased, the member shall pay to
the system for credit to the member's accumulated account the sum of the
following amounts:

(1)
The employee
contribution rate in effect at the time the disability benefit commenced
multiplied by the member's annual disability benefit;

(2)
The employer
contribution rate in effect at the time the disability benefit commenced
multiplied by the member's annual disability benefit;

(3)
Compound
interest at a rate established by the board from the date the member is
eligible to purchase the credit to the date of payment.

The member may choose to purchase only part of such credit
in any one payment, subject to board rules.

(H)
If
any employer employs any member who is receiving a disability benefit, the
employer shall file notice of employment with the retirement board, designating
the date of employment. In case the notice is not filed, the total amount of
the benefit paid during the period of employment prior to notice shall be paid
from amounts allocated under Chapter 3317. of the Revised Code prior to its
distribution to the school district in which the disability benefit recipient
was so employed.